Purchase a copy of the book that we are using in this podcast — Purpose in Prayer by E.M. Bounds. The book is available for just $15.

Armin Gesswein said, “When Christ ascended into heaven all He left behind was a prayer meeting. The early Church didn’t have a prayer meeting; the early Church was the prayer meeting. In fact, in the early Church every Christian was a prayer-meeting Christian.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is John 15:16 which reads: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Gordon M. Guinness. He said, “How terrible is the cost of robbing God of time for prayer. When we rob God of time for quiet, we are robbing Him of ourselves. It is only in the quiet that we can really know Him and know ourselves, and be sure that we give ourselves back to Him. Oh, for God’s sake, do not risk keeping the windows of Heaven closed by robbing God of time.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Zechariah 7:2 which reads: “When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: A Christian cannot have a victorious, overcoming, and vibrant life without prayer. Of course, there are other important things a Christian needs as well such as the Word of God, the local church, and fellowship with other believers. But if we are to be successful in all of these areas, we must undergird these things with prayer.

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD” part 3 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds. And, I want to remind you to take advantage of our special offer. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase a copy of the book that we are using in this podcast — “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds. The Lord used the writings of E.M. Bounds to teach me the power of prayer when I was a young Christian, and I assure you that his writings will be a blessing to your life as well. The book is available on our website for just $15. You can make your purchase today at PrayerMD.com or PrayerMotivatorDevotional.com.

E.M. Bounds goes on to say:

The Word of God is made effectual and operative, by the process and practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” Elijah showed himself to Ahab; but the answer to his prayer did not come, until he had pressed his fiery prayer upon the Lord seven times.

Paul had the definite promise from Christ, that he “would be delivered from the people and the Gentiles,” but we find him exhorting the Romans in the urgent and solemn manner concerning this very matter:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints.”

The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an outflowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth, just as the coal, stored in the earth, ministers to our comfort on stormy days and wintry nights. The Word of God is the food, by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone, “but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.”

Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God’s Word, prayer, though earnest, even vociferous, in its urgency, is, in reality, flabby, and vapid, and void. The absence of vital force in praying, can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God’s Word, to repair the waste, and renew the life. He who would learn to pray well, must first study God’s Word, and store it in his memory and thought.

John R. Mott said, “We fail to prevail with unconverted men because of our more fundamental failure to prevail with God in prayer.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Luke 18:1 which says: “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Grant von Harrison. He said, “Pure motives are prerequisite to the ability to call down the powers of heaven. The Lord will not sustain your efforts to achieve, excel or receive special blessings if your desires are vain.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Habakkuk 3:2 which reads: “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from J.D. Greear. He said, “What would your prayers look like if you believed that the cross really was the measure of God’s compassion for someone?”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: It is a crime for a man to leave his wife and children in the morning without spending serious time with them in prayer. Sir, the greatest thing that you can do for your family is make it your business to pray with them each day, preferably early in the morning, but any time of the day will work. In the spirit of Nike, “Just Do It!”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD” part 2 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

In many of its aspects, prayer is dependent upon the Word of God. Jesus says: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The Word of God is the fulcrum upon which the lever of prayer is placed, and by which things are mightily moved. God has committed Himself, His purpose and His promise to prayer. His Word becomes the basis, the inspiration of our praying, and there are circumstances under which, by importunate prayer, we may obtain an addition, or an enlargement of His promises. It is said of the old saints that they, “through faith obtained promises.” There would seem to be in prayer the capacity for going even beyond the Word, of getting even beyond His promise, into the very presence of God, Himself.

Jacob wrestled, not so much with a promise, as with the Promiser. We must take hold of the Promiser, lest the promise prove nugatory. Prayer may well be defined as that force which vitalizes and energizes the Word of God, by taking hold of God, Himself. By taking hold of the Promiser, prayer reissues, and makes personal the promise. “There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Me,” is God’s sad lament. “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me,” is God’s recipe for prayer.

By Scriptural warrant, prayer may be divided into the petition of faith and that of submission. The prayer of faith is based on the written Word, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It receives its answer, inevitably — the very thing for which it prays.

The prayer of submission is without a definite word of promise, so to speak, but takes hold of God with a lowly and contrite spirit, and asks and pleads with Him, for that which the soul desires. Abraham had no definite promise that God would spare Sodom. Moses had no definite promise that God would spare Israel; on the contrary, there was the declaration of His wrath, and of His purpose to destroy. But the devoted leader gained his plea with God, when he interceded for the Israelites with incessant prayers and many tears. Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of the king’s dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered definitely